Using Holiday Leftovers: Seitan Salad Sandwich Filling Recipe

In my previous life as a meat eater, I enjoyed eating the leftover food from Thanksgiving, but I also enjoyed not having to cook much over the course of the next few days.  Even if I'd whip up something small to go along with the leftovers, the leftovers themselves were the main focus!  Turkey was the biggest leftover, and maybe that's part of why I grew to dislike eating turkey.  Even though I would only eat turkey once or twice a year, I wasn't a huge fan.  So I don't miss turkey at Thanksgiving, and I wouldn't even if I weren't vegan!

Anyway, one thing I did miss was the sandwiches I'd make.  Again, I wasn't a huge turkey fan, but I'd make a turkey salad sandwich that I absolutely loved.  A problem now, as a vegan, is that those sandwiches had two no-nos:  turkey (of course) and mayonnaise.  I didn't miss them last year, but I thought about them this year.

I had a huge spread this year, because I made a lot of the traditional foods my family loves (and there are five others in my immediate family), but I made several dishes that were exclusively vegan (like seitan roast, a recipe I found on VegWeb) and veganized many of my old dishes (like sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes).  Well, I had some seitan roast left over, as well as almost two dozen rolls.  I also had lots of celery and onions I'd bought, overanticipating how much of those I'd need in my holiday cooking, and while the onions will fare all right before I get them used up, the celery might not.  So I decided to give this recipe a shot.  Now, all this said, you obviously don't have to wait until Thanksgiving to make this tasty sandwich filling, and I don't intend to wait a year for them either--you can use any seitan you have on hand.  Now, my one dilemma is finding sweet pickle relish without high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).  I looked at all the ones at my local grocery store, and even the high priced brand names had it!!!  I was very disappointed.  Guess I'll have to find a recipe for that as well.  If any of you know of a brand of sweet pickle relish that doesn't use HFCS (or if you have a great recipe), please let me know.  In the meantime, please enjoy my newest creation!

Seitan Salad Sandwiches

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 cups seitan, cubed
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• ½ small onion, diced
• ¼ cup sweet pickle relish
• ½ cup Vegenaise (I use Grapeseed Oil Veganaise)
• ¼ chopped nuts (optional)
• Bread or rolls (toasted, if desired)

Directions:

Heat oil in skillet. Add seitan cubes and sauté over medium-high heat until it begins to brown. Add parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Allow the seitan mixture to cool. Meanwhile, combine celery, onion, relish, Veganaise, and nuts (if desired). Once the seitan mixture is cooled, add it to the Veganaise mixture until thoroughly combined. Spread between two slices of bread or rolls to desired thickness.

Happy eating!